Visit the DREAM Centre team at our accredited centre of excellence. We look forward to helping you take control of your chronic condition.
Our accredited nurse educator will help you:
You will receive individualised care, with an initial 60- to 90-minute assessment. Follow-up visits are 20 minutes. No referral is necessary and basic insurance covers the cost. Please bring all medications you are currently taking and all devices you are currently using to your appointment.
Asthma is inflammation and narrowing of the bronchial tubes through which air travels in and out of the lungs. This can lead to wheezing, tightness in the chest, trouble breathing, shortness of breath and other symptoms.
If you have asthma, the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs (your airways) are over sensitive. Triggers (e.g. infection, dust, pollen) can irritate your airways, which become narrower, making it harder to breathe.
While the cause is not known, current research suggests a combination of environment, genetics and biology may lead to asthma. Each year, approximately 2,000 people are treated in the KEMH Emergency Department with breathing difficulties related to asthma.
It is apparent that many of these cases could be avoided with proper preventive treatment. That’s why our focus at the DREAM Centre is to teach self-management skills to people who have been diagnosed with asthma to help them maintain control using the least amount of medication. Among other things, we will provide a peak flow meter and a “spacer” to increase the effective delivery of medication.
If you answered YES to any of these questions, you need asthma education.
Learn more about asthma education: Asthma Education Centre Brochure
Emergency Asthma Treatment: Nebuliser or an inhaler and spacer?
For more information about asthma and treatment, visit:
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a serious lung disease that is sometimes called emphysema or chronic bronchitis. COPD progressively obstructs and slows the flow of air in and out of the lungs, making it harder to breathe. It is life threatening because of permanent damage to the lungs, usually but not always from smoking.
We provide support and education for clients who have been diagnosed with COPD. Self-management skill are taught and action care plans given. Smokers are helped to quit.
Learn more about COPD: COPD Reference Guide
The DREAM Centre is directed and staffed by accredited nurses, dietitians and a specialist physician. We offer a variety of educational programmes to meet individual needs. The DREAM Centre collaborates with other programmes, such as:
Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not properly process sugar. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose (sugar), which our bodies use for energy. Insulin, from the pancreas, helps glucose get into the cells of our bodies.
When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or the insulin doesn’t work so sugar builds up in your blood. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body does not make enough insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, the body is resistant to high levels of insulin. There is plenty of insulin in the body but the cells are unable to use it.
High sugar levels can lead to serious problems such as blindness, kidney failure and amputations. People with diabetes are also more likely to have heart disease or strokes. These complications of diabetes are preventable. This is why we want to help you to control your sugar levels. With proper treatment and lifestyle changes, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled. Better yet, with a healthy lifestyle, it can be prevented.
Our accredited nurses, dietitians and specialist physician will help you navigate your way to better health and control of your diabetes. Our team approach is a holistic way to manage your health.
We offer one-on-one appointments and 12-hour courses in an interactive classroom setting. You may feel frightened about your diagnosis and being here. This is normal, and we can help!
Good diabetes education has been shown to be more effective at controlling blood sugars than most prescribed medications for diabetes. DSME improves diabetes control, reducing the onset and/or advancement of complications, and decreasing diabetes-related distress and depression.
What you’ll gain
An endocrinologist is a physician with specialist training to diagnose and treat diseases caused by dysfunction of the endocrine glands. The dysfunction may include tumours (usually not cancer) of the glands and/or over or under production of hormones leading to hormonal imbalance and symptoms.
Some of the more common conditions treated by our endocrinologist at the DREAM Centre include:
The goal of treatment is to restore balance. Management may include prescription medications, including hormone replacements and lifestyle changes.